Mangaluru: City South Subdivision ACP’s Office to Function from Ullal

Mangaluru: Three police stations – Ullal, Konaje and Rural (Maroli) – are currently under the jurisdiction of the assistant commissioner of police, city south subdivision.

The south subdivision ACP’s office had been built at a cost of Rs 58 lakh in 2013 and was inaugurated by home minister K J George on Feb 12, 2014. This building also houses the traffic ACP’s office.

All files related to Konaje and Ullal have to be carried to the ACP’s office, which is currently functioning from the Pandeshwar police station, for verification or signatures.

On the other hand, to investigate into any major crime in Ullal and Konaje, the ACP has to go all the way southwards. Often on account of traffic snarls on either side of the Netravati river at Jeppinamogaru and Adamkudru, places like Thokkottu and Ullal are separated from the city like islands.

To ease the situation, the commissionerate had decided to shift the workplace of the ACP to Ullal. While this will be a boon to the staff of Ullal and Konaje stations, the rural station staff will have to take the trouble of going to Ullal for all their needs.

This step has been found necessary by the commissionerate because Ullal has been considered a sensitive area with high communal flare-up potential.

A thought for the future

The city has been growing and is literally bursting at the seams. Paradoxically, the all-around boom in real estate apart, visitors to the city find it hard to believe that city’s actual population is just a few lakhs. What actually we keep seeing could be just a floating population.

The influx of a large number of migrant worker population also has also become a challenge for the keepers of law and order. The jurisdiction of the police stations according to the present style of functioning leaves much room for improvement. The extent of the Pandeshwar, Kadri, Urwa and others can be scientifically revised.

The rural police station has to take care of law and order right from the norther suburbs up to the northern side of the Ullal bridge. It is ironical that if anything untoward happens around the present Kadri station, the police have to arrive from Urwa, since the location of the station is not under the jurisdiction of the Kadri police.

As the city is likely to expand further with prospects of Greater Mangaluru and Smart City in not too distant a future, far-sighted measures may have to be taken very soon. Creation of new police stations in advance seems to be in order.

The residents of south of Kankanady and Jeppu have to depend on the Pandeshwar station as of now. A police station in Jeppu or Morgan’s Gate will be useful.

Similarly, a police station in Adyar or Padil will be convenient and it may relieve a lot of load from the rural police station. It’s time the authorities concerned think it over seriously.